Towards a Theology of Race: Radical...
Transcript of Towards a Theology of Race: Radical...
Towards a Theology of
Race: Radical Jesus
Honorable Reverend Everett D. Mitchell, M.Div., Th.M., J.D.,
Senior Pastor, Christ the Solid Rock Church
Dane County Circuit Court Judge
AGENDA
• BRIEF DISCUSSION OF CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK
• TOWARDS A THEOLOGY OF RACE
• A LENS
• RADICAL INCLUSION OF JESUS MODEL
• RACIAL ANALYSIS
• SERMON—THERE IS MORE ON YOUR SIDE
• A MOMENT OF HOPE
CHRIST THE
SOLID ROCK
BAPTIST CHURCH
“A Church Where
Everybody is
Somebody. We
believe it and live
out our
commitment to all
of God’s children.”
Christ the Solid Rock Limited Partnerships
• Joint Bible Study Groups
• Joint Women’s Retreats
• Joint Men’s Ministry and Retreat
• Joint Choir Ministry
• Pulpit Exchanges
Christ the Solid Rock Limited Partnerships
• Joint Vacation Bible School
• Joint Fundraisers
• Joint Activities
• Sewing Classes
• Urban Gardening Farm
• Jail Ministry
“It is appalling that the most segregated
hour in Christian America is eleven
o’clock on Sunday Morning”
A Theology of Race
Requires that churches confront
the impacts that racism has upon
a church’s thinking and practice
of theology.
A Theology of Race
Racism both infects and limits the
capacity of a church to fully
embrace the radical ministry of
Jesus and for a church to live out its
commitment.
A Theology of Race
Jim Wallis, America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the
Bridge to a New America
“The churches have too often “baptized” us into our
racial divisions, instead of understanding how our
authentic baptism unites us above and beyond our
racial identities.”
A Theology of Race
Jim Wallis, America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the
Bridge to a New America
“Racial healing is a commitment at the heart of the
gospel…What does racial healing and reconciliation
mean in the face of America’s racial divide over
policing and the criminal justice system?”
A Theology of Race: A Lens
Radical
Inclusiveness
of Jesus
Hang Out Principle
Matthew 9:10-13
And as Jesus sat at dinner in the house, many tax
collectors and sinners came and were reclining with
him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this,
they said to the disciples, “Why does your teacher
eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he
heard this, Jesus said, “Those who are well have no
need a physician, but those who are sick. Go and
learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not
sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous
but the sinner.
Radical Inclusiveness of
Jesus
Hanging Out/Reclining
Principle of Ministry
• In Their Home
• Fellowship Time
• Healing the Sickness--
Race
• Learning Mercy
Racial Narrative: Rooted Deep in the American
Consciousness
• Race the Power of an Illusion
“I advance it therefore as a suspicion only, that the blacks,
whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct by time
and circumstances, are inferior to the whites in the
endowments both of body and mind.”—Thomas Jefferson
• Whiteness
Racial Narrative: Rooted Deep in the American
Consciousness
• Racial Division is considered natural
• Natural Quality to Race (Notes on the State of Virginia)
• Natural State of Slavery (The Birth of a Nation)
• Scientific Proof of Inferiority (The Bell Curve)
• Legal Definition (Dred Scott Decision (1856))
“People of African, slave or free, black people had no rights white people were bound
to respect”
Racial Narratives: Stereotypes
Racial stereotypes are constructed beliefs that all members of the same race
share given characteristics and the false narratives that accompany them to
justify the social marginalization of a particular group.
These racialized false narratives are deeply held by those of a different race but
is also internalized by those of the same race. These internalized false narrative
messages often reinforce one another leading to destructive outcomes.
Racial Narratives: Stereotypes
Radical
Inclusiveness
of Jesus
The “One” Thing Principle: Mary or Martha
Luke 10:38-42
Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain
village, where a woman named Martha welcomed
him into her home. She had a sister named Mary,
who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he
was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many
tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you
not care that my sister has left me to do all the work
by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But Jesus
answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and
distracted by many things; there is need of only one
thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will
not be taken away from her.”
Radical Inclusiveness of Jesus
The “One” Thing Principle: Mary
or Martha
• Discerning the Right Moment
• Activity does not equate to
relationship
• Find the ‘One’ Thing: Focus on it!
Martin Luther King Jr
White Moderate (Liberal)
“ I mu s t c o n f e s s t h a t ove r t h e p a s t f e w y e a r s I h ave b e e n g r ave l y d i s a p p o i n t e d w i t h t h e w h i t e m o d e r a t e . I h ave a l m o s t r e a ch e d t h e r e g r e t t a b l e c o n c l u s i o n t h a t t h e N e g r o ' s g r e a t s t u m b l i n g b l o ck i n h i s s t r i d e t owa r d f r e e d o m i s n o t t h e W h i t e C i t i z e n ' s C o u n c i l e r o r t h e Ku K l u x K l a n n e r , b u t t h e w h i t e m o d e r a t e , w h o i s m o r e d e vo t e d t o " o r d e r " t h a n t o j u s t i c e ; w h o p r e f e r s a n e g a t iv e p e a c e w h i ch i s t h e ab s e n c e o f t e n s i o n t o a p o s i t i ve p e a c e w h i ch i s t h e p r e s e n c e o f j u s t i c e ; w h o c o n s t a n t l y s a y s : " I a g r e e w i t h yo u i n t h e g o a l yo u s e e k , b u t I c a n n o t a g r e e w i t h yo u r m e t h o d s o f d i r e c t a c t i o n " ; S h a l l o w u n d e r s t a n d i n g f r o m p e o p l e o f g o o d w i l l i s m o r e f r u s t r a t i n g t h a n ab s o l u t e m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g f r o m p e o p l e o f i l l w i l l . L u ke wa r m a c c e p t a n c e i s mu ch m o r e b e w i l d e r i n g t h a n o u t r i g h t r e j e c t i o n .”
White Church Missionary Approach
• Maintain Social Boundaries/Distances • Often Project Based—Can create work
projects to do good work but with no relational bi-product
• Rooted in a save them approach to ministry and relationships
• Lack of Reciprocity
Before You Reach Out
For Connections
1. Initiate a conversation within
your local congregation;
2. Answer the question: What is
the one thing?
3. Create an internal action plan
that strengthens the areas that
need improvement;
4. Discuss how to evaluate when
the congregation is prepared for
reaching out for relationships;
5. Visit Before Your Leap!
6. PRAY
Radical
Inclusiveness
of Jesus
Reversing the Power
Matthew 19: 27-30
The Peter said in reply, “Look we have left
everything and followed you. What then will we
have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the
renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated
on the throne of his glory, you who have followed
me will also sit…And everyone who has left houses
or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children
or fields for my name’s sake, will receive a
hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life. But many
who are first will be last, and the last will be
first.”
Radical Inclusiveness of
Jesus
Reversing the Power
• Race: Power
• Participate in returning
power back to
communities of color
• Creating space for mutual
sharing
Building Relationships That Matter
You Have More On Your Side
2 Kings 6: 15-17
When an attendant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out,
an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. His servant said,
“Alas, master!” What shall we do? He replied, “Do not be afraid, for there are
more with us than there are with them!” Then Elisha prayed: “O Lord, please
open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the servant,
and he saw; the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around
Elisha.”
The Possibility of Change